If only I'd known then what I know now…

July is almost gone, but the hot summertime temperatures are not! Lately, I’ve been living indoors like a hermit, due to the heat, humidity, and the gnats! One of my favorite ways to pass the time, on a hot summer day, is by participating in the Wednesday Hodgepodge. It’s hot and I’m stuck inside, so let’s do the Hodgepodge!

1. “Summer is like childhood. It’s full of warm memories and gone too soon.”~Kellie Elmore Agree or disagree? Share something you loved about the summers of your childhood.

I agree. Summers and childhoods tend to pass too quickly! Just ask any teacher or mother.

I loved the freedom that summer brought when I was a child. Freedom from schoolwork, freedom from wearing dresses (we were required to wear dresses to school), freedom from wearing shoes of any kind, freedom from the alarm clock… I’m sure you get the idea. Unless you’re a teacher, you don’t get to experience that kind of freedom as an adult.

One other thing I loved and looked forward to, during the summer, was spending time with my older brother and his wife. They lived in Florida, about two and one-half hours away from where my parents and I lived, in Georgia. Staying with them for a week, every summer, was a special time for me during my t’ween years. They always made sure I had a good time.

2. Are you a fan of auto racing-NASCAR, Indy, Stock, Grand Prix, etc? Ever been to a race in person? Any desire to do this? Do you know a lot about cars? Do you notice particular makes and models when you’re out and about?

No, I’ve never really been a fan of auto racing, although I have two sons who were once CRAZY about NASCAR. Both sons have been to several NASCAR races, but I never have.

I still know a little bit about cars, but not as much as I once did. Back in the day, I knew all of the makes and models, but, these days, many of the cars look the same to me. I’ll always be a fan of the muscle cars of the sixties and seventies. The new hybrids don’t impress me.

3. What’s something you think is too serious to be joked about? Or do you think anything and everything is fair game?

Lots of things are too serious to be joked about, in my opinion. Religion or person’s disabilities are on the top of my list.

4. July 29th is National Lasagna Day. Are you a fan? Do you have a great recipe, and if so where did it come from? If given a choice would you choose a plate of lasagna or a plate of spaghetti?

Yes, I love Lasagna, but I don’t make it much anymore because, (a) these days, the cheese tends to upset my stomach, (b) pasta isn’t really supposed to be on my diet, and (c) my recipe makes too much for just two people.

I discovered a great recipe for lasagna in our church’s cookbook, about twenty years ago. The recipe belonged to a former pastor’s wife, so it’s very special to me. (If anyone’s interested in the recipe, let me know.)

If given a choice, I’d probably choose lasagna over spaghetti, because I like lasagna better than spaghetti.

5. What’s a simple pleasure you’d miss if it were not a regular part of your life?

I’d miss frequent, regular visits with my grandchildren. I’m blessed that most of my ‘grands’ live within shouting distance, and even the one who doesn’t, only lives an hour away. Many grandparents aren’t as blessed.

6. If you could be the CEO of any company, which would you choose?

Wal-mart! Because I’d like to make lots of changes to Wal-mart! What ever happened to ‘Made in the USA’, or having friendly, helpful customer service? Why does Wal-mart have twenty check-out lines, but only five cashiers working the lines? I could go on and on…

7. August is just around the bend…bid farewell to July in exactly seven words.

Good riddance! Too hot, humid, and gnatty!

Random:

Mr. Withers

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Permit me to introduce you to my peace lily, Mr. Withers. Mr. Withers is not in perfect health, but I have managed to keep him alive for almost eleven months. That’s quite an accomplishment for me, since I’ve killed more than a few peace lilies in my lifetime.

You can’t really tell from the picture, but Mr. Withers is huge! I’ve had him since Ed’s mom passed away, last September. When the hospital, where Ed works, sent the plant to us, it was about half its current size!

Mr. Withers requires huge amounts of water each week. I can always tell when he is thirsty because he withers and droops–hence, his name! Sometimes, I think Mr. Withers drinks more water than I do each week, and that’s saying a lot!

I was thrilled, recently, when Mr. Withers finally began to bloom! I’ve never been able to keep a peace lily alive long enough for it to bloom–until now. I’m enjoying Mr. Withers’ lovely white blooms (although they don’t really show up in this picture). I think Ed’s mama would be proud!

***Thanks to our Hodgepodge hostess, Joyce, for another great set of questions!

First of all, this post will be late in getting published. I’m settling back in from a long, three-day weekend, and I’m running behind (as usual). That being said, I’ll get busy recapping the weekend.

Ed was off on Friday, and he graciously took me back to my favorite place. You guessed it–St. Simon’s Island. The skies were clear and beautiful, but oh, my goodness it was warm. No, actually it was HOT. The car thermometer said 94 degrees, but a nice breeze was blowing in from the ocean and temps under ‘our’ oak tree ran a bit cooler than 94, I think. However, the temperature in Brunswick, just a few miles from SSI, was 98 degrees!

Here’s a bit of what we saw, while sitting in the shade of that oak tree, on Friday:

a shrimp boat, followed by a flock of birds

(that’s nearby Jeckyl Island in the background)

the ‘walking man’, along with some shark fishermen on the pier

(the walking man walked exactly 3 hours!)

one of the fisherman posing with his ‘catch of the day’

(I had a blast watching the guy land that shark!)

Ed and I enjoyed a picnic of bar-b-que sandwiches from ‘Soulful Bar-b-que’, and the food was delicious, as always. One thing you can say about us, we are creatures of habit 🙂

On this visit, I did a bit of shopping at some of the gift shops on the island. I purchased a few more beach-themed ornaments for my ‘summer tree’, which I recently decorated. I’ll have to share a few pics of that tree, one day soon. It’s decorated in all things ‘tropical’ or ‘beach-y’.

The trip to and from St. Simon’s Island was uneventful, which is always a good thing. (I always wonder if we’ll have car trouble) I’m already looking forward to making another trip back, hopefully in a couple of weeks!

On Friday night, after arriving back home from SSI, we gathered at our daughter’s house, and watched our oldest son’s wedding/honeymoon video. The wedding video was pretty much traditional, but oh, my goodness, the honeymoon part of the video was hilarious! Our son filmed everything they saw on the honeymoon, including traffic and the entire decor of the condo where they stayed. He did a running commentary while he filmed, and that’s what was so funny! Toward the end of the video, suddenly a basketball game appears. I said to my son, “Please tell me you didn’t film a basketball game over your wedding/honeymoon video!!!” He said, “No, the wedding/honeymoon was filmed over the basketball game!”

The rest of the weekend went by quickly. We were able to visit with almost all of our family, at some point over the weekend, which is always good. Ed managed to get a little work done around the house, too, and that always makes him happy.

The low point of the weekend came, on Sunday morning, when the ‘anti tracking’ warning light came on in my car! I’m not quite sure what the warning light means, except that it means another trip to the car repair shop! Hopefully, it will be a simple and not-too-costly fix. It’s always something when your vehicles grow old… In fact, I’m planng to write a post, soon, entitled “Old Vehicles Never Die, They Just Come To Live At Our House!”

On that note, I’ll end this post and say “Have a great Monday–and stay cool!”

Our 2014 spring garden was our fourth attempt (in three years) at growing food for our table. We planted less, and harvested more, so I guess you could safely say it was our most successful attempt, so far! We’re still learning as we go.

Last year we planted seventeen rows, each over 150 feet long, and we nearly worked ourselves to death! This year we dropped back to eleven rows, and shortened the rows a bit. At times, it was still overwhelming, but buying a tiller helped tremendously with the keeping the garden cleaner.

We got a late start planting our new potatoes, thanks to a rainy winter season, but we still made a decent crop. We didn’t plant many, but are still eating the harvest now–a couple of months later!

We didn’t plant many Lincoln Peas (1/3 row), but still harvested enough to eat some, put four packs in the freezer, and save some seed for next year. Next year’s crop will be larger, because these peas are really beginning to grow on me! They’re sweet and quite delicious with dumplings cooked in them.

Our carrots did well, and we had the largest harvest to date. I fed carrots to the chickens for two months, and still managed to harvest a gallon bag full of carrots for our use!

Our lettuce crop produced well, but our cabbage crop was lousy, this year. The cabbage heads didn’t grow very big, and we were constantly plagued by worms! I planted a different kind of cabbage seed, and am wondering if that had anything to do with our problems.

We only planted four squash bushes and three cucumber vines, but we made more squash and cucumbers than ever before. The reason? We didn’t see a single squash bug this year! As long as nothing kills the vines, which squash bugs tend to do, the bushes keep on producing!

Last year we were able to grow okra. This year, we didn’t have any luck with it. Some of the seeds didn’t sprout, and the seeds that did sprout grew into unhealthy plants. No okra for us this year.

We made our first attempt at growing peppers. At first our seeds refused to sprout. After replanting, we had a little better luck. Next year I’ll know to plant our peppers on the end of the row closest to our water source! Apparently peppers require more water than I thought. For some reason, we also lost a lot of bell peppers to bottom rot. I’ll have to do some research about this problem before next year. In the end, we had plenty of peppers, and they were still producing when plowed them under.

We did great growing green beans! Our bushes were beautiful and made plenty of beans. I picked green beans almost every day for two weeks! By the time they were gone, I was sick and tired of picking, eating, and canning them. The only problem we ran into regarding our green beans was battling stink bugs! 2014 seemed to be the year of the stink bug! We sprayed and we dusted, but the stink bugs kept on coming to punch holes in our green beans.

It wasn’t a great year for tomatoes, but it was partially our own fault. Ed neglected to stake and tie the bushes up properly, this year, and many of our tomatoes rotted from touching the ground. We won’t make that mistake again! I tried a new heirloom tomato seed known as Heinz VF and the tomatoes tasted very good, and they were a good size for canning. I’ll be planting Heinz VF again next year, and staking the bushes properly!

For a while it looked like our butter beans weren’t going to fill out. The bushes were loaded with pods, but they remained flat for what seemed like forever. Finally, about the time the bushes were ready to die, most of the beans filled out. We still haven’t discovered the secret to growing good butter beans, but we’re working on it!

We planted Pink Eye peas this year, and they produced well. For some reason, our pea pods didn’t grow quite as long and full as they should have, but the bushes still produced large amounts of peas. As always, we planted our ‘old standby’ of black crowder peas, and they did well, for the third year in a row.

Once again, we put chicken compost in the bottom of the furrows when we planted our two rows of corn. We, also, planted our corn in the wettest section of the garden, like last year. Our corn was healthy and produced well. I think we’ve figured out how to successfully grow corn! Chicken poop and plenty of water seem to be the secret.

We have two thornless blackberry bushes growing at the end of our garden, along with a variety of other fruit trees. This was only the second growing season for the blackberry bushes, and they really out-did themselves this year. I harvested over ten quarts of berries off those two bushes!

Below is a summary of how many vegetables I put in the freezer or in jars, followed by a video account our 2014 gardening experience. All-in-all, I’d say we had a pretty good year!

The Wednesday Hodgepodge always feels like ‘home’ to me. It’s a place for old friends to gather each week, and it’s also a great place to make new friends. The Hodgepodge is a place to share our innermost thoughts on subjects, then compare them with the thoughts of others, and it’s a place to give and receive encouragement! I’m grateful to our hostess, Joyce, for starting and, more importantly, continuing to host The Wednesday Hodgepodge. Welcome to my Wednesday home!

1. When I look at the sky I feela lot of different emotions. For instance, if the sky is bright and blue, I usually feel happy and hopeful… If the sky is blue with lots of puffy white clouds, then sometimes I feel nostalgic (remembering distant days of looking for the shapes in those clouds with my young children…). If the sky is dark and angry-looking, I feel nervous, wondering if we’ll be getting another damaging storm… Then, of course, there are days when just I look up at the sky and think about God, Heaven, loved ones who have already passed away, and loved ones who will pass away in the future. At those times, I feel a mixture of many emotions all at once.

2. If you had to run for political office, which one would you run for? Do you have any real desire to actually do this?

If I had to run for a political office, I’d run for the presidency (if I could), because I don’t think I could mess things up [for our country] any worse than they already are! That being said, I have no desire to run for any political office of any kind.

3. What scent makes you think of home?

The smell of food cooking on the stove. Nothing says ‘home’ like good smells coming from the kitchen.

4. How often do you take a step back to think about where you’re headed in life? Do you need more or less self-reflection?

At this point in my life, I often think about where I’m headed in life. I know I’m living in the final season of my life. I’ve watched my parents live through theirs, and Ed’s parents live through theirs. I don’t know what twists and turns the final leg of my journey will take, but I know how the story ultimately ends. I don’t want to spend too much time thinking about the past or the future though, because I might miss something good that’s going on in the present!

5. July is National Ice Cream Month…besides a cone, what’s your favorite food item to top with ice cream?

Hot fudge cake or warm apple pie– and I’m drooling just thinking about it because I haven’t had either one in a long time.

6. What might your autobiography be called?

How about–Bad Beginnings Can Have Happy Endings —because I didn’t always have a good childhood, but life’s been wonderful since I became an adult.

7. Your least favorite mode of transportation? Why?

A bicycle, first of all, because it’s a lot of work to peddle it, and let’s face it, at this point in my life, sitting on a bicycle seat would veryuncomfortable! (I still deal with chronic yeast issues regularly. Enough said!)

Random:

On our last several visits to St. Simon’s Island, Ed and I discovered a bit of a phenomenon. It’s an elderly man who, apparently, spends a large portion of his time walking around The Village every day. It doesn’t matter what day we visit the island, this man is always out walking! He doesn’t just walk a little, he walks for severalhours (3 or more) at a time! He apparently walks a well established route, which brings him directly in front of us every ten minutes. We know this because we’ve timed him. I’ve affectionately dubbed him The Walking Man. I wonder how often he has to buy new walking shoes…

Once again, it’s been a few days since I’ve posted. Sometimes the words just aren’t there, and sometimes I have other things demanding my attention, but today I’m beginning the week by blogging!

Ed and I are dealing with a few things, job related, that I can’t blog about, and at times, it gets to be quite stressful. Sometimes I think we have problems, then I take a look at so many others around me, and our problems don’t seem big at all… For instance,

Gene, brother-in-law of my good friend, Diane, just had a massive stroke, last week. Ed and I have known Gene for many years, and, in fact, Ed just saw him at the hospital, recently. Gene’s been in the NICU since Thursday, on a ventilator. There’s been no improvement, and he’s not expected to recover. His family will soon be faced with some tough decisions, concerning removal of the ventilator.

My friend, Diane, is dealing with several health issues of her own, as well. Among them, chronic back problems, chronic foot problems (surgery needed for both), and her most recent problem –stomach ulcers. In addition to all of this, Diane’s husband suffered a mild stroke, just over a year ago, and Diane’s mom recently had to enter an assisted living facility, due to having Alzheimer’s. When it rains, it pours, sometimes–or so it seems. Like I said, suddenly my problems don’t seem so big, after all.

In other news, Ed and I spent a quiet weekend at home. Ed finished a few chores around the house. Mowing the grass, cutting down the last of the spring garden, washing cars, etc. Meanwhile, I didn’t do a whole lot, other than a little grocery shopping. Sometimes quiet weekends are good.

However, on Saturday morning, I did manage to hoe one-half of the fall garden! Ed helped me hoe the other half. Thank goodness the fall garden consists of only three rows of vegetables–but those three rows are 150 feet long each!

On Saturday evening, our family (minus three) gathered over at my daughter’s house for boiled peanuts and a cookout. It rained, so we had to move our activities indoors, but we still had a good time. While eating supper, I sat at the table in the dining room, admiring the beautiful view out of the front sliding glass doors. Oh how I miss that view! It overlooks much of the family farm, including our current garden. (In case you’re confused, Ed and I lived in our daughter’s current house for 30 years, before moving next door.) I couldn’t help but wonder how many meals had been enjoyed, by our family, in that dining room, over the years. Lots of memories, that’s for sure!

The high point of Saturday evening (other than enjoying the view and everyone’s company) was watching the wedding video of our daughter’s wedding. Oh my goodness! A lot happens to people in thirteen years!!! Many of the wedding guests have since passed away, and many of us have not aged gracefully… Enough said!

We didn’t see Brad and his family this weekend, but little Evan learned how to crawl last week! Thanks to Facebook, I’ve already been able to see the little fellow in action! His mama recorded and shared Evan’s feat. Social media certainly makes being a long-distance grandma a little easier.

I’d hoped to go to the beach, on Sunday, but we didn’t make it. I woke up tired, and the weather wasn’t cooperating either. Ed and I ended up spending a lazy day at home, watching the sun play peek-a-boo behind the clouds. We caught up with some television watching, and took two naps! Hopefully, Ed went back to work rested today.

I hope we’ll make it to the beach sometime this coming weekend. Ed has a three day weekend off, due to having to take another mandatory vacation day. I’m sure looking forward to seeing this again…

Update: I just received word, from Diane, that Gene passed away at 5:30 yesterday afternoon. I know he’s in a far better place, but I will continue to pray for his family in the difficult days ahead…

I’m still blogging in ‘hit or miss’ mode, lately. I’m so thankful for The Hodgepodge because it gives me a reason to get up off my booty and get back to blogging!

I’m also grateful to our hostess, Joyce, for providing such great questions week after week, and for the blog friends I’ve made through participating in The Hodgepodge.

Here are this week’s questions, along with my answers:

1. The month of July was named for Roman Emperor Julius Caesar. He’s quoted as saying, ‘Experience is the teacher of all things.” So what has experience taught you lately?

Experience has taught me that my body is not as young and resilient as it used to be. Although I can still do the same kinds of things, it takes me a little longer to get back the ‘pep back in my step’, afterward! (In other words, I’m still recuperating from our 2014 gardening experience!)

2. Where did you last ‘roam’?

Ed and I ‘roamed’ to our son, Brad’s, house. Last Sunday, some of the family went into the city to help Brad celebrate his 29th birthday. We ate pizza, salad, bread sticks, cheese cake and birthday cake for lunch. The food was delicious and we had a nice visit. When we got there, we discovered that Brad had shaved his beard off! Doesn’t he look ten years younger?

3. Speaking of ‘Rome’…pizza, pasta, gelato…you can only pick one, which would you choose?

I’d choose pizza every time!

4. ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’, ‘All roads lead to Rome’, ‘When in Rome…’ which ‘Roman’ idiom have you most recently encountered? Explain.

It seems to take forever to get anything finished, these days. I keep telling myself, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Thankfully, growing older has given me more patience.

5. What’s a movie you’ve seen or a book you’ve read, that makes you want to book a trip to Italy?

Nothing comes to mind, but of course, Italy has never been on my list of places that I’d like to visit. I started watching ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’ but never finished watching it…

6. Walt’s original Disneyland opened almost sixty years ago, on July 17, 1955 Have you ever been to the California park? How about any of the other Disney parks around the world? What’s your favorite amusement park ride or attraction?

I haven’t been to Disneyland in California, but I’ve been to Florida’s Disneyworld, twice. Disneyworld is nice, but it’s too crowded for my taste, and the lines are too long! It’s been thirty-something years since I’ve been, but, back then, I liked ‘Space Mountain’ and ‘The Haunted Mansion’.

7. It’s that time of year…when were you last bitten or stung?

I get bitten by mosquitoes almost daily, even though I rarely go outside without wearing insect repellent! Mosquitoes and gnats love me. Thank goodness, it’s been quite a while since I’ve been stung.

Ed and I have two old and very large pear trees at the edge of our yard. Those pear trees usually cause drama every year. This year has been no exception!

Usually the ‘pear tree drama’ centers around a few greedy squirrels, who want to take more than their fair share of our pears, and Ed trying to keep the squirrels at bay with his trusty BB gun! (Ed uses BB’s to discourage the squirrels, not harm them) However, this year we have had a whole different kind of drama going on.

Our drama begins with what can only be described as ‘pear over-load’. Seriously, we trimmed all of the lower branches on those pear trees, but they’re loaded with so many pears, the branches are practically touching the ground in some places!

pear over-load

Notice that lowest limb, on the right of the pear tree, with two poles sticking under it. Those ‘legs’ are there for a couple of different reasons.

Back in early spring, a mother Mockingbird decided to build a nest in our pear tree–in that lower limb on the pear tree! Ed noticed the nest and eggs right away. As time passed, the limb kept getting lower, and, eventually, the nest began to tip toward the right, too. Before too long, the eggs hatched, and became three Mockingbirds in the pear tree! Ed voiced his concerns about the baby birds falling out, as he continued keeping a regular vigil over the nest.

Sure enough, shortly after the eggs hatched, Ed walked outside and found that a baby bird had fallen from its lopsided nest. He happened to have a napkin in his pocket (like always), and he used it to scoop the baby up and place it back in the nest. It was at that point, Ed decided to take some action!

so much fruit, so few limbs

He found some old poles and some twine, and fashioned a couple of ‘legs’ for the drooping limb of the pear tree. In doing this, he was able to straighten the angle of the bird’s nest so, hopefully, the babies wouldn’t fall out again. Ed worried that Mama Mockingbird might not accept the ‘fallen baby’, so he continued his regular vigil over the babies in the nest.

Mockingbirds in a pear tree

Mother Mockingbird continued to love and care for all of her babies, even the fallen one. She must have known that Ed was trying to help her babies because she didn’t even put up too much of a fuss over him being near ‘her tree’. However, if I walked near the tree, (along with about five cats following me) that was another whole story! Hell hath no fury like a mother Mockingbird who thinks her babies are being threatened!

Mother Mockingbird particularly disliked “Jo Jo”, the tom cat. I’ve seen her dive bomb “Jo Jo” and nearly knock him off his feet on several occasions! Any time “Jo Jo” walked within thirty feet of Mother Mockingbird’s pear tree, you could bet he was going to get attacked relentlessly! I almost felt sorry for the poor guy, but I knew what he’d do to those babies, if given a chance.

Ed watched the baby Mockingbirds grow quickly, and hoped the now semi-lopsided nest would hold them until they were ready to leave. We hoped and prayed that none of our cats would discover the baby birds. I stayed away from the nest, on purpose, for this reason. (Usually, wherever I go, the cats will follow.)

For some reason, I was only able to photograph two of the birds

About two weeks after the babies hatched, I arrived home from grocery shopping just in time to see the last little birdie leaving the nest. It was mid-day, and he was running and hopping across the yard, a few steps at a time. Every so often, he’d stop and spread his newly discovered wings. I held my breath, as I watched, and prayed that no cats would discover him as he headed toward the Japanese Magnolia at the edge of our yard. Fortunately, it was mid-day, and all of the cats were sleeping at this time of day. I’ll bet Mother Mockingbird knew this, too!

For a few days afterward, Ed noticed Mother Mockingbird still carrying food into nearby bushes/trees. He noticed a young Mockingbird or two in those trees, as well. We never saw any tell-tale signs of half-eaten birds, so we’re assuming all of the babies safely made it to freedom.

I sure hope Mother Mockingbird chooses a different nesting site next year. I’m not sure our nerves can take another adventure with three Mockingbirds in our pear tree! As for the pears, they’re continuing to grow. The lowest limb with ‘legs’ may touch the ground before much longer. Ed’s counting down the days until the pears ripe enough for eating. He’ll gladly remove some of the weight off those limbs then!

It’s Friday, July 11th, and, of course, I couldn’t let this day pass without wishing our ‘baby’ boy, Brad, a very happy birthday! Brad’s all grown up now, with a baby boy of his own, but he’ll always be my ‘baby’! Brad, enjoy your special day–and your last year of being a ‘twenty-something’ 🙂 Love, Mama

I don’t know about where you live, but here in southeastern Georgia it’s HOT! My favorite place to be, during the month of July, is indoors. Today I’m going to be spending some time ‘chillin’ with The Wednesday Hodgepodge! Here are today’s questions, furnished by our gracious hostess, Joyce, @ From This Side of the Pond:

1. July is National Anti-Boredom Month. When was the last time you were bored? What’s your go-to cure for boredom?

Usually, I only get really bored when I’m waiting in the doctor or dentist’s office. During those times, my go-to cure for boredom is reading. Most of the time I’ll bring my own reading material.

2. What’s the last thing you made a reservation for?

A hotel stay–but that’s been quite a while ago!

3. What’s one thing on your summer ‘bucket list’? Any plans to make it happen?

I’d love to visit the Florida Keys or someplace where the ocean is clear and blue. (It’s cloudy and gray where we live.) Unfortunately, I don’t foresee any trips to the Florida Keys in our future.

4. What’s your favorite summertime sip?

Ice cold water!

5. What do you find is the best way to handle another person’s hostility and hopefully ease the tension?

Remain calm and try to talk things out, but sometimes it’s very hard to do.

6. Your favorite film set in summer?

I had to think about this one for a while, then suddenly two films came to mind, and I couldn’t choose between them! The first film is Dirty Dancing. Oh, my! Jennifer Gray and Patrick Swayze, need I say more??? The second movie that came to mind is Jaws. I sat on the edge of my seat the entire time! Didn’t you just love how that creepy music would begin to play just before the shark would strike??? They just don’t make movies like that anymore!7. What’s a word you’re using too much of lately.

This isn’t an official word, but my answer is ‘ aroundtuit’…as in “I’ll get around to it.” Lately, more and more things are getting put off until tomorrow–or later!

On the morning of our 42nd anniversary, I woke up to find a small dish of peaches on the table in the living room! This was interesting, funny, and so sweet–because there is a story behind those peaches!

You see, Ed and I saw a ‘peach stand’ on the way home from the family visit to our son, Brad’s, house, back in June. Ed actually stopped (in a thunder-storm) to see how much the peaches were, but refused to buy any when he learned the price! I was disappointed that he didn’t buy any, and I let him know this on the way home.

Three days later, Ed presented me those over-priced peaches from that same peach stand–located thirty-something miles from our house! Ed said to me, “I wanted to give you something that I knew you really wanted.” How did Ed accomplish this? He solicited the help of our son-in-law, who drives a truck for a living, and goes by the peach stand on a regular basis!

I ate every one of those over-priced peaches, and enjoyed them very much! Ed couldn’t have given me anything that I’d have enjoyed any better–except the trip to St. Simon’s Island that went along with the peaches 🙂

Our youngest son, Brad, and his family live in the city, about 55 miles away from the rest of us. Every now and then, Brad and Jennifer invite the whole bunch of us over for a visit. The Saturday before Father’s Day was such an occasion! I didn’t get a picture of all of us together, but I did manage to snap a few others, which I will share.

We all drove separately and met up at Brad’s house. Of course, being the ‘old farts’ we are, Ed and I arrived first. Once the others got there, we feasted on a delicious lunch of grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. For dessert we had two delicious ‘Cheese Cake’ choices, both of which were made by Brad. I’d love to show you ‘the tool’ Brad used to ‘whip up’ his desserts, but I promised I wouldn’t! I didn’t promise to tell what it was though. Keep in the back of your mind that Jennifer has a beautiful red Kitchen Aid mixer in her kitchen–but picture in your mind, Brad using a whisking tool attached to the end of his red cordless drill… Why? I do not know, but it worked, and that’s what really matters!

After lunch, baby Evan needed a little nap, and, apparently, so did a few of the adults. You know what they say about reverting back to childhood with age… These two took their naps on the couch!

(I’m going to be in so much trouble for sharing this photo.)

While some folks took naps, others blew up floats and got dressed for swimming. Jennifer checked out what was happening on Facebook. I sat and watched the flurry of activities, which made me tired, just doing so!

I’ve become a big fan of ‘naps’, and probably could have used one myself! Instead, I stretched out on the floor, behind the love seat (which isn’t pictured). Unfortunately, I didn’t get to stay stretched out for very long because I was in everyone’s way!

Finally, all of the ‘nappers’ woke up, and it was time to head for the swimming pool. It’s too far to walk to the pool, so we had to take four different cars to get there. Again, being the ‘old farts’ that we are, Ed and I left the house first, just to get out of everybody else’s way. We politely waited at the pool, in the car, until Brad got there with the key to the gate.

While waiting, Ed and I noticed a couple of very skinny boys sneaking through a hole in the fence, illegally gaining access to the neighborhood pool. If this wasn’t bad enough, once inside, they unlocked the gate, and let in several more of their buddies, too! The pool was very crowded that day, which made me wonder just how many ‘buddies’ those skinny boys had!

some of our family (except the girl with the football), enjoying the pool

Now, Ed and I don’t ‘do’ swimming pools anymore, nor do we care about sitting around in the sun like the young folks do. I don’t think either of us have worn a swim suit since 2009–and I’m sure the general public thanks us for that! We managed to find ourselves a couple of chairs under a nearby shelter, and tried to make ourselves comfortable–but it sure was hot. Now, Ed and I are used to the heat, but there’s a difference in working in the heat and just sitting in the heat!

We watched the grandchildren swim for a bit, then ultimately decided we’d load up and head on back home. Country life was beckoning us! It was just as well, because about the time we were getting ready to leave, the sun went under, and an afternoon thunder shower blew up. It began to sprinkle while we were saying our goodbyes!

The others stayed on a while longer. Some eventually left to go shopping, while others went out for supper. As for Ed and me? We arrived back home in time to get a few things done around the house! Brad and Jennifer? They repeated the whole scenario, the following day, when they invited her entire family over for lunch!

candid shot of our sons, looking out over the pool area

Everyone enjoyed their visit to Brad and Jennifer’s house, and we appreciated them having our entire crew over for a visit. I know, from experience, how much work this can be! It was a nice change, not to have to be in charge of anything–including cooking and clean up 🙂 I hope they’ll invite us over again sometime soon!